Adrian McDonnell (born 22 May 1959) is a Franco-American

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

Life

A laureate conductor of the

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

Foundation, McDonnell began his musical studies with the violin at the age of 8. At 19 years old he was selected by competition for the position of apprentice conductor for the State of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, where he studied conducting with Sheldon Morgenstern and Peter Paul Fuchs, then with Richard Pittman at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

in Boston and with

Pierre Dervaux Pierre Dervaux (born 3 January 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died 20 February 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor (music), conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and ha ...

in France. A former student of the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

, he also received the higher diploma in

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The school was founded in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot and Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (English: no ...

where he was a student of Michel Merlet. Since 1990, McDonnell has been artistic director and conductor of the

Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris Cité internationale universitaire de Paris () or the Cité universitaire (CIUP or ''Cité U'') is a university campus, a private park and foundation located in Paris, France. Since 1925, it has provided general and public services, including ...

Orchestra.Orchestre de la Cité
/ref> Since 2000, he has been teaching conducting at the Conservatory of the

15th arrondissement of Paris The 15th arrondissement of Paris () is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as ('the fifteenth'). The 15th arrondissement, called , is situated on the Rive ...

(Conservatoire Frédéric Chopin). He has held permanent positions as a conductor with the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, Greensboro Opera, Eastern Music Festival, Guilford Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre inter-conservatoires de la Ville de Paris, and has conducted numerous symphony orchestras in Europe and the United States as a guest conductor. With a vast general repertoire, McDonnell has directed numerous creations in the field of

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

, including

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

, Maximo Flügelman, Amhed Essyad, ,

Jean-Michel Damase Jean-Michel Damase (; 27 January 1928 – 21 April 2013)see Bruneau-Boulmier, Rodolphe was a French pianist, conductor and composer of classical music. Career Damase was born in Bordeaux, the son of harpist Micheline Kahn. He was studying pian ...

, Thierry Blondeau, Narcis Bonet, Henri-Jean Schubnel, John Moran, Olivier Penard,

Yves Prin Yves Prin (born 3 June 1933) is a French composer and conductor of classical music. Life Prin was born on 3 June 1933 in Sainte-Savine. He studied piano with Yves Nat and conducting with Louis Fourestier at the Conservatoire National Supérieur ...

, Hélène Rasquier, Kasper T. Toeplitz, Larry Alan Smith... In October 2007, McDonnell was awarded the

Ordre des Palmes Académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

by the French government.

References

External links

Greensboro Opera

Greensboro Symphony Orchestra

Interview with Adrian McDonnel
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdonnell, Adrian 1959 births Living people Musicians from North Carolina Conservatoire de Paris alumni École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni American male conductors (music) French conductors (music) French male conductors (music) Recipients of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques French male musicians 21st-century American conductors (music) 21st-century American male musicians